Learning the Reasons
by Whigmus Lister
Summary: CHAPTER 6 up. New teammates, Flash and Batman always seem to be at odds. Understanding is the key to their resolution. First FanFic ever... I like to take liberties with some things!
1. Chapter 1: Lightning in a Bottle

Chapter 1: Lightning in a Bottle 

"I don't have time for this." He growled.

Batman was visibly annoyed at being called to the watchtower without what _he_ considered a worthy reason. 'We need you up here this afternoon' was the message he had received. It hadn't interrupted anything too pressing – just WayneTech document signing and a couple of unimportant meetings that he could make up later in the week. Plus, the tone of voice that Superman used to request his presence suggested urgency. Now it was obvious that it was an attempt to make things look more urgent than they were. He was not too happy.

"I know you're busy," Superman responded, expecting that reaction from the man in the cowl. Standing in the focus of the other 6 members of the recently formed Justice League, the Man of Steel was in the middle of describing a training exercise designed to promote cohesion within the newly formed group in a battle situation. "We all are. All I'm asking is that we spend a couple hours a week on battle drills so we can learn each other's strengths and weaknesses. Green Lantern has come up with a lot of scenarios and situations that would be difficult for any one of us to complete alone – real situations that we may come up against. When that time comes, we're going to have to be more prepared than our adversaries."

"Not only that," added Green Lantern, "but without some sense of trust, there's no synergy – we're just seven individuals. As a team, we're much better prepared to tackle difficult situations quickly and with minimal risk to ourselves or any innocent people that may be involved."

"I agree." J'onn J'onz chimed in. "As a unit, we will achieve better results."

"Hey, I agree with Bats," All heads turned towards Flash. "I don't know about you guys, but I've always been a one-man show." It surprised everybody to hear him side with Batman. So far they hadn't agreed… about anything… ever.

"That's why you're going to be the first test." Lantern smiled, earning a look of shock from Flash and a muffled guffaw from Hawkgirl.

"Me?!"

"Yes, you. You're so fond of reminding everybody how you're the 'Fastest Man Alive,'" Lantern did his best to imitate the nuances and posturing the younger hero took on every time he recited that moniker, making the scarlet speedster a little annoyed. "So, as a team, if we can capture and contain you, we'll be able to handle anybody, won't we?"

That little bit of flattery was all Flash needed. He quickly agreed and even added some taunting to make the whole situation more fun. If he had to be here, he'd do all he could to make it worth his while. Besides, he thought this would give him an opportunity to show his stuff, maybe impress some of the other members – especially Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. He might even make ol' Bats raise an eyebrow before the day was over.

"Like I said, I don't have time for this." The Dark Knight threw over his shoulder on his way towards the exit of the training arena.

"Batman…" Superman started to argue the point as he brushed by, and when a firm hand fell on Batman's shoulder the Big Blue Boy Scout seemed reduced to a little schoolboy as he received a full-power Bat-glare.

A feminine offer interrupted the stare-down.

"Come on, Batman. It'll be fun. I promise." The dark hero's jaw muscles relaxed and the tension in the room was almost audibly released when Wonder Woman's offer seemed accepted.

"I can give you one hour. That's all. After that, don't call me again unless it's an emergency."

With that, some ground rules were laid out for the safety of all involved. No full-power blows, etc. The training arena was filled with various walls, objects, barricades and obstacles as well as some select open areas and long straight-aways for Flash to gain some real speed. All he had to do was escape and evade. Wally was given a second to take-in the layout of the arena, thus improving his knowledge of the terrain and increasing his edge over his pursuers.

When the start signal was given, Flash was off and everybody shifted to what was presumably the best strategic location to catch him. Since he'd been given a little time to consider and since he was fairly motivated, Flash was in rare form. His energy level was up. His mood was up. His awareness was up. He zipped and weaved throughout the obstacles like a pinball at almost supersonic speed. Jumping over Hawkgirl's thrown mace was the easiest. In fact, Wally even let a little laugh slip out when the winged heroine grunted her frustration and took it out on an obstacle block, shattering it to pieces.

Green Lantern's containment bubble was tricky. Wally was able to bank off the walls of the bubble and dive through the closing hole at the far end of the bubble before he was completely enveloped.

J'onn J'onz teased him mentally and tried to take his mind off evading capture. It almost worked; Flash was busy trying to mentally block the Martian and take a quick rest behind a wall. He had let his attention lapse temporarily and wasn't paying complete attention to the hazy green form that was phasing through the wall behind him. Once he caught a glimpse of the huge arm coming around his neck however, he ducked, rolled and ran clear to the other side of the training room.

"You'll have to do better than that, J'onn!" Wally laughed.

Almost immediately after Flash entered a long straight-away on his retreat from J'onn, Wonder Woman's golden lasso started closing in fast around him. She was fast – and deadly accurate with it, but instead of catching her target, Wally made his cheekiest move of the day. He dove _through_ the closing loop, tucked and rolled on the landing, then wrapped the Amazon Princess with her own lasso.

"Now, don't _you_ feel silly?" He teased.

"Yes!" She screamed. "You better run, Flash, cause when I get out of this I'm gonna…"

"Gotcha!"

Her warnings were interrupted by Superman who had flown up behind Flash at blinding speed and grabbed him in a huge bear hug – pinning his upper arms to his side. Wally was surprised, but only for a split second. In his hypersonic state of mind, a split second was more than enough time to think of what to do. Yes, Wally was in rare form that day, and the plan he quickly formed would be the source of legend, he was sure. The group started closing in on Superman's location as he held Flash fast, their intention: to immobilize and contain him to end the drill.

"Work as a team!" Lantern commanded.

Shayera landed in front of Wally and wedged the handle of her mace across his neck, pinning his head back against Superman's huge shoulder. The Man Hunter had shifted form in to dragon-like creature and was constricting around Flash's legs, pinning them together. Wonder Woman had freed herself from her lasso and was about to throw the twirling loop around the captured 'target'. Lantern's ring was glowing bright green and just started to emit the energy that would encapsulate Wally in a holding pen that would signal the final stages of the drill. They were working as a team and it seemed that they were about to win.

It didn't occur to anybody that Flash wasn't struggling. In fact, he was smiling. And just as it seemed the test was over, he pulled the ace out of his sleeve. His lower arms were still free, and he used this. People always thought of him as a danger in the open, when he could run, but sometimes they forget that he can move EVERY part of his body with incredible velocity at will. Those little underestimations were his key to success.

Wally started to rub his hands together and got them super-hot from the friction. He hated to do it, but he grabbed J'onn J'onz by the head, causing the Martian to yelp in pain. A little leg shaking and a strong kick later, and J'onn was on the other side of the room wondering what happened.

Next, Flash put his hands on Shayera's exposed abdomen and used his freed legs to trip her to the floor, then started twirling his lower arms. The resulting wind blew Hawkgirl across the room by J'onn. She hit the wall with a painful grunt.

Now, doing what looked like a hyper-caffeinated version of the Chicken Dance, Flash was able to slightly loosen Superman's bear hug. Not much, but enough to vibrate his way out, although at the cost of almost getting his head ripped off. Thankfully, the only casualty was that he lost his mask. In any case, he was free. Superman almost grabbed him again, but before he could get a firm hold, Flash had intercepted Wonder Woman's lasso in mid air, put it around Superman, then tugged Wonder Woman right up against the big red "S" where both she and Superman were finally trapped by Lantern's encasement bubble.

Before anybody really figured out what was going on, Flash was zipping to the far side of the room, smiling to himself and feeling more than a little cocky.

Pride always comes before the fall.

And that's exactly what happened to Flash – he fell. More correctly, he was knocked down by one simple blow to the shoulder, which threw him off course enough to send him into a barricade. The surprise had so completely taken him out of his rhythm that it took him almost 2 seconds to realize that he A) was lying flat on his back, B) couldn't move anything, and C) there was a very dark shadow looming over him.

"What the…?" Flash's legs were immobilized by Batman's cape. Two seconds were more than enough time for the detective to ensnare his legs and manipulate his arms across his chest in some kind of sadistic weave. Batman was holding them in place with one hand while his knee was putting weight on Flash's abdomen.

"You're caught. Game over." Batman straightened up and looked at all the other members of the League still on the other side of the room. "Like I said, call me when there's a _real_ emergency".

"How'd you do that?" Shayera asked as she flew over towards the scene of the capture.

"You're a detective. You figure it out." Batman said as he put his cape back on and disappeared through the door.

"You OK?" Lantern asked Flash as he _slowly_ got up from the floor.

"I guess so. I mean, he didn't hit me very hard, but I really got the wind knocked out of me when I ran into that barricade. I don't know what he was doing to my arms, but I couldn't move – not even a wiggle." They all turned their heads towards the door that Batman had just went through as it finished closing.

"Are you sure that guy doesn't have any super powers?" Flash asked Superman with more than a little uncertainty in his voice.

"None what-so-ever," Superman replied, also with more than a little uncertainty in his voice.

"Unless you count his mind" J'onn finally added, breaking the long silence.


	2. Chapter 2: Blind Fury

Chapter 2: Blind Fury 

Some time later

"Bruce! Don't be like that!" Wonder Woman pleaded in the conference room aboard the Watchtower. The fearless Amazon was taken aback by the snap of Batman's head and the stone-cold set of his jaw.

"I'm tired of repeating myself. Stay… out… of Gotham. I'll call in backup when I need it. Until then…" Batman's attention shifted back to Superman. "…just keep out."

With that, he got out of his chair and headed for the door. He paused by Wonder Woman's chair as she swiveled to watch him walk by. He leaned over and looked her square in the eye, his hands on the arm rests. Only Superman could hear what he said, but J'onn shuddered at the degree of anger he felt radiating from the cowled figure as he warned the woman with crossed arms and crossed legs: "Don't call me Bruce. I'm Batman."

"So much for team work!" Shayera whispered to Lantern.

"Now hold on a second!" Superman flew between Batman and the open exit. "We're not done yet, so sit back down."

The next thing was nothing short of amazing, if not completely unexpected. Everybody saw _Superman thrown to the ground_ in what looked like one sweep of a black-gloved hand. It wasn't a punch or a strike, but a simple sweeping gesture – like a teacher erasing a blackboard. All eyes watched the Man of Steel slowly regain his senses and sit up. By that time, the door was closing and the retreating shadow was half-way down the hall towards the teleporter.

"Did he just take down Superman?!" Flash asked Green Lantern.

"With one hand!" Lantern returned.

"What the hell just happened?" Shayera called out as she jumped out of her seat to help Superman back up.

"I don't know. One second I'm standing there, the next I'm on the ground" Superman confessed. "I feel OK now, but I for a second, my stomach was turning and I was seeing stars."

"Did he use Kryptonite on you?" Wonder Woman asked incredulously.

"It didn't _feel_ like Kryptonite, but it could have been something similar."

"What's up with that guy?" Flash posed the question half rhetorically, but also half seriously.

J'onn J'onz sat in silence at the conference table while the other members recovered themselves and re-took their seats. His orange eyes glowed only a little, then he bowed his head slightly. "Let's continue with the meeting," he suggested.


	3. Chapter 3: Love Can Be Blind

**AN: I'm taking a few liberties... it's before Starcrossed, & we only have the original 7, yet everybody knows secret identities... John & Shayera are together... I'm sure you'll see some inconsistancies with the official story lines... take it as you will. Flash & Batman... well, I tried to add a dimension to the characters that makes them a little less stereotypical... hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 3: Love Can Be Blind

Some time later

"She likes _him_?!"

"Yep. And if you watch him, you'll see that he likes her too."

John Stewart and Wally West were sitting in the lounge finishing a bowl of popcorn and watching a few more mindless action flicks after a good workout. Shayera had long-since gone to bed and the rest were either out on missions, in the monitor womb or, in Batman's case – probably brooding in Gotham somewhere. They were Wally and John now, not Flash and Green Lantern. Gone were the costumes for more comfortable sweats and tank tops. Wally had on fuzzy bear slippers.

The conversation had started when a stunningly pretty character in one of the movies had wound up with the hero of the film, despite the fact that the aging actor was clearly twice her age and, in Wally's opinion, not worthy of such beauty and devotion. When he commented to John about how unfair that was, the topic had morphed into a revelation that Wonder Woman and Batman might have a thing for each other.

"I think there's been something there for a while, but neither one will admit it… at least not to the rest of us." John explained. "Not sure when it started." He paused as he shoved another handful of popcorn in his mouth.

"What gave it away?" Wally asked half-heartedly. "I mean, _I_ never saw anything. What? Did he send her some bat-candy or something?"

(laughs) "Naw. It's not that obvious – or that romantic for that matter. But I was watching him one time at a meeting a while ago. It looked like his attention was directed at Superman. Then I noticed his head move slightly when Diana shifted in her seat."

"So? What's that mean? You think he was watching her or something? You can't see his eyes behind those creepy lenses he wears."

"Well that by itself probably meant nothing, but it got me thinking. Here he was, supposedly concentrating on what Superman was talking about… but when Wonder Woman moved, crossed her legs to be specific, that distracted him. Batman doesn't get distracted. So that means he wasn't concentrating on Superman at all, but must have been staring at _her_ and nobody could tell."

"I think you're jumpin' to conclusions John," Wally testified, hogging the popcorn, eyes glued to the tube.

"Maybe. But after that day, I've been seeing things between the two I never noticed before. You'll miss it if you're not _looking_ for it. I'm telling you, he likes Wonder Woman and I'm pretty sure she likes him, too."

"I beg your pardon!"

Both men's heads snapped to see the tall brunette standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and an expression that would almost pass for a battle cry.

(gulp)"Hey, Diana! We were… just talking about you." Wally tried to defuse one ticked-off Amazon with a boyish grin.

"So I gathered," she snapped, advancing. "I think it's rude for the two of you to discuss people behind their back."

"Only if it was _bad_ stuff we were saying!" Wally soothed, trying to turn on the charm. "But we were actually talking about relationships… and how close we've grown as a team."

"And how friendships have developed among us in such a short time" John added, noticing that Wonder Woman was actually relaxing the more Wally talked.

"Is that so?" She asked, somewhat unsure of their sincerity.

"Well, yeah. Of course it is."

"And who exactly is it that supposedly likes me?" She challenged half-seriously, but smiling none-the-less.

"You mean, besides every red-blooded male?" When that little jab got Wally a look of annoyance, he was at a loss. Turning to his partner in crime; "Uh… GL…?"

John sighed. "Batman"

The silence was chokingly thick. Wally wanted to go screaming out of the room and John made a mental check to make sure he was wearing his power ring and that it was charged and ready. Just in case the Amazon didn't take kindly to the news that a… _man_…_that man_… was interested in her.

"And you think… he… _likes_ me?" Diana asked sitting down in a chair adjacent to their couch. The look on her face was one of disbelief, but whether that was good or bad was still in question.

"Yeah, I do," John confessed.

"I don't see it," Wally offered as he sat back crossing his arms over his chest. It was obvious that he didn't believe a word John was saying. He didn't think John was lying… just mistaken. Wally liked to think of himself as fairly good at picking up people's attitudes. Usually he wasn't that far off, despite public belief to the contrary. In fact, when he was mistaken about how a person felt, it was because he was always looking on the brighter side of the situation. His natural optimistic point of view tipped the scales to favor the happier ending. It rebounded on him once in a while when he would mistakenly believe that a woman's friendly disposition towards him was actually an expression of affection (after all, he is Flash). But he liked to think of himself as quick to pick up on those things. When he tried. Which wasn't very often.

Now he was totally confused. Any other normal straight male on Earth would have _some_ kind of attraction for her, he conceded. But Batman was anything but normal. The other thing that bothered him to no end was John's claim that _she_ might like _him_. _Now we're getting into the realm of the really bizarre_, he thought.

He was utterly baffled and tried absorbing the concept of a romance brewing between two of his teammates. But now that it was mentioned, _had_ there been any signs? If so, Wally was sure to catch them. After all, he _claimed_ that he saw John and Shayera long before anybody else did. But was there anything between these two?

_Now, taking John at his word, let's say there is…_ Wally frowned in concentration. _How in the world could Wonder Woman like – even slightly – Batman? Superman, sure. Even with _me_ if she's lucky! But Batman? How could this beautiful woman… this perfect being… this _goddess_ have anything to do with a miserable, creepy, cranky, cold, sneering…_

"FLASH!"

"Huh?"

"Pass the popcorn!"

He had zoned. Thinking about how absurd the whole Batman/Wonder Woman thing was – John and Diana had actually finished an entire conversation right next to him and he was completely oblivious to it.

"Where'd Diana go?" He asked passing the bowl to John.

John's 'are you serious?' expressions was the answer.

"Just watch the movie."


	4. Chapter 4: Secret Conflicts

Chapter 4: Secret Conflicts 

Some time later

Hunger. Hard to call it a weakness. More like a limitation, really. Moving at high speeds requires so much energy, and Wally's energy comes food. Lots of food. Lots of food that's good for him, but frankly he scarfs down more than his fair share of rubbish too. It really didn't matter some times – all he needed was something in his stomach. Hard work made him hungry like that.

Today he had been working hard. He took care of a delicate situation between some armed 'suspects' and the leader of a small African nation. He'd gone in solo and did a bang up job of disarming everybody before all but one bullet had been fired. And he'd been able to speed along side that one rogue bullet, pluck it out of thin air as it flew along its trajectory and place it harmlessly on the Prime Minister's desk. Too bad there was no press with an angle good enough to capture flattering footage. Maybe next time.

Now he was back in the Watchtower, meandering his way towards the cafeteria. Some burritos and maybe an iced mocha would hit the spot. The halls were empty as the only people on board besides him were those on watch in the monitor womb. Those two just happen to be Batman and Wonder Woman. Ever since Green Lantern had suggested that there may be romantic tension between those two, Wally had been more sensitive to the signs that would confirm or deny it. But now he was actually _looking_ for those signs. At times he thought that he had tricked himself into believing that he was finding things that weren't really there.

Was it coincidence that Batman and Wonder Woman seemed to have more shifts on monitor duty with each other than other pairs of heroes? If he had been so inspired, he would have compiled a list of the duty assignments over the past few weeks to see if the frequency of those two sharing the day was actually increasing or just an illusion brought on by his suspicions. But he wasn't that inspired. He did wonder what those two did to pass the time on those slow days, though. Sparring, perhaps.

_And that's another thing… how does a guy with no powers what-so-ever spar with the strongest woman on earth, who has literally_ centuries _of warrior training and experience? How did that guy take Superman down with one sweep of his arm? And how in the world did he manage to take_ me_ down single handedly when the other 5 couldn't do it as a team?!_

That's the one that _really_ got him. Because it happened to _him_.

He made his grub and finished it. Then made more and finished that. Then he thought he'd do everybody a favor and eat all the leftovers in the fridge. But now the fridge and pantry looked empty. Making a mental note of things to get… cheese sauce, cayenne pepper, sour cream, brownies, and a box of Chicken-in-a-bisket crackers… Somebody should restock the pantry!

Wally cheerfully headed down the hall towards the teleporter.

"Where are you going?"

The deep baritone voice over the com link sounded just as Flash had started programming in the coordinates for his teleport.

"To the store. We're out of some things in the pantry and I…"

"Don't be long. We may need you in Oklahoma if that supercell spawns any tornados."

'_Spawns… I'll show you spawns you creepy…'_ Good thing Batman couldn't read minds. Or could he? No, no way…?

Wally was about to step on the teleporter pad when he realized that he had come down with a case of common courtesy. He switched off the automatic trigger on the controls and headed towards the monitor womb to see if there was anything he could get for the two comrades stuck on monitor duty.

He didn't hurry, just walked. Nearly content from his earlier feasting and relaxing his muscles after a busy day, he just casually strolled along. As he neared the open door of the monitor womb, he heard (but couldn't see) Batman and Wonder Woman in what sounded like a heated conversation. They didn't know he was there. Whatever they were talking about, Batman hadn't noticed that Wally never completed his teleport.

"Dick, and Tim… Me… Why is it that you shut out everybody that cares for you? You have no real friends. Every minute of your day is calculated to the most nauseating detail. I don't know how or why Alfred puts up with you anymore. You're going to drive that poor man to his grave…"

"Leave Alfred out of this." Somehow, Batman's voice sounded colder than ever. Even more amazingly, Wally was actually _spying_ on them and Batman hadn't caught him in the act.

_'They don't know I'm here. She must really take him out of his groove. The Bats I know would have snuck up behind me and scared the crap out of me by now!_'

"In fact, leave Dick and Tim out of this. This doesn't concern any of them. This is between you and me. And right now I am trying to tell you logical reasons we cannot be together. If you're not going to listen to logic, this conversations over."

"Y'know, sometimes I even wonder why I try," Wonderwoman muttered.

"Then why _are_ you trying? Why are you pushing this? I said no. Drop it."

"Oh, no! You're not getting out of it _that_ easily. One of these days you'll find that you're missing out on the happiness and security that you've devoted your whole life to make sure others have. I'll be there, Mr. Wayne. Make no mistake about that."

There was an unnatural pause in the argument.

"Where are y..?" Wonder Woman's heated question seemed cut off. Wally was just forming the realization that his presence was finally detected. Had he been a split second more clever, he may have gotten away. As it was, however, a bat-a-rang snare had banked around the corner and snapped his legs together at the ankles.

"What the…!"

"Spying isn't your style, Flash," Batman had him pinned face down with his arm wrenched behind his back. "What are you up to?!"

Flash grimaced "I wasn't spying! I was just heading up to see if there was anything you two would like for me to pick up for you at the store…"

"You could have used your com link."

"And you would have read me the riot act for using League Communications Equipment for personal use and ran off some long list of rule numbers or some such crap!"

Wonder Woman rounded the corner "Let him up! He didn't do anything wrong!"

Batman un-tethered Flash's feet and let the speedster up, but didn't offer a hand in doing so. There was a most uncomfortable pause and a look of uncertainty on all three faces. Flash knew that he'd heard more than either of them wanted him to hear, but they didn't know how much – if anything. Neither was about to tip their hand. It was awkward enough.

"So, how 'bout it?" Wally asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Do you want me to pick up anything for you?" Wally enunciated slowly as if they didn't speak English. Batman stormed back towards the monitor womb.

Wonder Woman smiled. "No, thank you, Wally."


	5. Chapter 5: Understanding Begins

Chapter 5: Understanding Begins 

Some Time Later

Three meteorites had landed within a 1-mile radius over the last 4 weeks in a remote forest in northwestern Montana.

The first meteorite was nothing extraordinary. It was recovered by a team of scientists who had also detected the incident. The rock weighed about three and a half kilograms and was mostly iron in composition.

The size and composition of the second meteorite was also nothing unusual. The fact that it had landed exactly 300 meters due north of the first one, however, was.

When the third rock (also of similar size and composition) hit exactly 300 meters away from the other two rocks' impact site, then the chances of coincidence were virtually eliminated. J'onn had done as much investigating as he could, but came up with nothing unusual on scans of the area. That's when Batman's considerable talents and resources were called upon.

Within two days a meeting had been called of all 7 members about the occurrences. The details were laid out by the Dark Knight about the situation.

"It's clear that each object was caused to change its course and hit Earth at a specific location. The pattern, impact site and projectile size & composition give indications that these were tests."

"You think that somebody is using some sort of equipment to 'summon' the meteorites?" Superman asked, though everybody was wondering the same question.

"Yes." J'onn answered. "Using radar tracking data, we know where each meteor was and it's path prior to these anomalies. The result was that the meteors altered their trajectories based on a precise force caused by an unknown device somewhere here on earth. By knowing the original course of each object and the resulting course after the alteration, we were able to locate the general region of the originating force that caused it. What we don't know is the nature of the 'force' used… it could have been magnetic, gravitational or something else entirely"

"Each pulling force came from a different part of the globe, and we've narrowed the locations to specific regions," Batman added. "The first was based in the northern parts of Brazil, the second from the Congo and the third from Malaysia. My guess is that these small objects were targeted because they could go unnoticed when they landed."

"The person or persons doing this could have the ability to summon larger objects and pinpoint their impact sights." The magnitude of Shayera's theory was lost on no one.

Wonder Woman's face turned dark. "Is this the same technology Vandal Savage used for his rail gun in the Kasnian incident?"

Batman shook his head slightly "I don't think so. His type of technology would have produced interference with various forms of radio-frequency devices. There were none recorded in those areas at those times.

"The impact locations are very remote from any civilization. I don't think any equipment is in the immediate vicinity. There are power lines with limited capacity in that immediate area. However, the impact sites are concentrated on a single mountaintop. Records show that there should only be one emergency radio transmission tower there. We performed a full scan of that mountain and found nothing."

"Well, nothing's good, right?" Wally asked.

"Not in this case. Our scans should have at least seen the radio tower, roads, control building and power lines. We didn't detect any of that."

"So, either it's gone, or there's something cloaking the location to all scans," Lantern observed.

"Exactly."

Superman made his decision just then. "Batman… you, J'onn and Shayera pour over the data some more and keep a constant monitor on the area. Flash, Wonder Woman, you go to the impact site. If there is something cloaking that area, we'll want to know what it is and who's behind it. Green Lantern and I will investigate the three locations from where the 'pulling forces' originated."

XXXXXXXXX

"This the place?"

Flash and Wonder Woman were standing in a clearing in the northwestern Montana Rockies. The emergency radio transmission tower was still in place and the control building for it was occupied by a single forest ranger on duty. The ranger's jeep was the only vehicle visible and the light and television sounds emanating from the little building suggested the ranger was inside.

After a brief interrogation, the Ranger testified that he had no 'official' records of any unusual activities in the immediate area. However, a few hikers and campers had mentioned being disappointed in the lack of indigenous wildlife. Some more campers and hikers were registered with permits earlier that weekend, perhaps they could be located and questioned.

Flash and Wonder Woman started hiking the trails in search for clues or witnesses.

Back in the Watchtower monitor womb, the research team of Batman, the Marian Manhunter and Hawkgirl was monitoring as many forms of surveillance as possible of the area. At that moment as the station's orbit was taking them over North America, and for the next 90 minutes, the Watchtower would have direct visual access of the site, including infra-red. The power grid for all of the northwestern part of North America was displayed on one of the larger monitors. Radio frequency transmission patterns around the affected area were analyzed in real-time. Long-range radar was scanning the opposite direction, towards outer space, to monitor astronomical objects near by.

"Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary," J'onn observed. "I hope this turns out to be nothing."

"I don't believe in coincidences." Batman warned.

"Neither do I," Shayera added, folding her arms. "Something doesn't feel right."

One of the workstations sounded an alert signaling the completion of a procedure Batman had started 20 minutes prior. More calculation had pinpointed each of the three locations from where the pulling forces originated.

"The data confirms our suspicions, Batman," J'onn reported at the workstation. "The calculated positions show remote jungle areas in each location. There are no buildings, roads or signs of technology. It seems that the locations are also cloaked despite our best efforts to scan them. This level of technology seems beyond almost anything else on Earth."

Batman activated his comm link. "Batman to Superman. I'm sending you the precise coordinates of the locations"

XXXXXXXXX

"Y'know, I _could_ just do a complete sweep of this whole mountain and you and I could be in Star City for lunch… I know this great little place..."

"FLASH! We're on duty. Could you please try to keep in mind that we're _working_?"

Flash stopped and stared at Wonder Woman for a second.

"What?"

"Oh, man. Now you're even starting to _sound_ like him!"

Diana knew which "him" he meant. Although it was never made public by any official announcement, Batman and Wonder Woman were… involved. At times it was the 2-ton elephant in the room – everybody knew it was there and nobody would talk about it.

Not only did Diana know which "him" he meant, but she unfortunately had to agree. Her cynical side seemed to make more appearances these days. Superman had made a similar comment a week earlier. She handled both observations and her own realizations with a mixture of dread and humor.

For months now, Diana and Bruce's relationship was best described as elusive. The physical attractions were most undeniably there, but it was the emotional commitment that was lacking. At times, they seemed to be able to overcome perceived obstacles and actually open up to one another, maybe even enjoy some flirting (as far as one could call it). But the rollercoaster pattern of their association almost always started the downward swings with an opening salvo from Bruce declaring that he had a moment of weakness or some other such nonsense. The end result was an internal turmoil in both of their hearts and heads and usually Batman's infrequent sightings on the watchtower becoming even more infrequent.

As they walked along, Flash noticed the far-away look on Diana's face. For a second he felt a little guilty believing that his comment had been taken as an insult rather than the playful jab he intended. To his credit, he didn't immediately open his mouth to try to rectify the situation. No, instead he seemed to have a moment of mature clarity. He kept to himself and kept a watchful eye out for anything out of the ordinary. They were on a mission, after all.

"You don't like him, do you?"

The question made Flash take pause. He wasn't prepared for such directness from the princess. He especially wasn't ready to discuss his opinions of Batman with the woman that may actually be called Batman's… girlfriend? Taking a deep breath, he did his utmost to think of a way to answer without lying and without offending. He wasn't sure he had the eloquence.

"It's not that I don't like him… I just don't get him."

"Yeah, I can see that." Diana seemed to completely understand what he meant.

Agreement…? Flash used another pause to reflect on that. Maybe she does like Batman despite all that creepiness.

Diana broke the silence. "He's an incredible guy, you know?" It was more a statement than a question.

"I don't know if 'incredible' is the word I'd use. Maybe. I don't know. Somehow weird seems to fit better."

"How so?"

She asked for it.

"OK, how does this guy, with supposedly no super powers at all… do all the things he does? He can spar with you and Shayera and J'onn for hours and NOT get squished. Name another mortal on the planet that can do that!

"He's got, like, every gadget you can think of and a half dozen more tucked away in that suit of his. The other day he pulled a plastic zip-tie out and secured a loose cable on the watchtower. Who carries zip-ties?

"He's bossy and rude. He stalks around and sneaks up on people, scaring them half to death with that bat-stare of his…"

Diana smiled a little to herself as Wally ticked off the reasons that he didn't 'get' Batman.

"…took down Superman in one sweep of his arm. Now that freaked EVERYBODY out – not just me."

The speedster took a quick break in his rant, though he clearly wasn't done.

"And how in the WORLD did he take ME down in the training arena, huh? I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I had ALL of you beat, but he tied me up with that bat-grip-arm-twist-pressure-point-judo stuff of his and I'm like… what the heck?"

Diana chuckled as they kept walking. Finally he stopped his litany of bat-mysteries, but again, it seemed that he wasn't done. Diana tilted her head towards him expectantly.

Flash seemed a little uncomfortable. His pace slowed for a moment, then he stopped walking altogether. His head was lowered slightly and he kicked at a loose stone.

"And I _really_ don't understand what you see in him and _why_ on earth he wouldn't want to be with you every minute of every day…"

Diana swallowed at the compliment as she turned away. It was clear to him that he may have stepped over a line with that last point. They started their patrol again in silence.

"Well, those are the things I don't get about him. Some of the things, I guess. Well, the major ones, the ones I want to know the reasons for. The rest I can live without." Wally smiled.

They continued through the trees along the mountainside in silence for a few more minutes. Their alertness kept high, but the back of their minds stewing over the Batman mystery. Why did Batman bother Flash so much? Why couldn't he just accept the fact that Batman was different? Couldn't they just agree to disagree – without being disagreeable? Why, with all his perceived faults did Wonder Woman care or even try to have a relationship with him?

There were so many questions boiling right now. The floodgates were open and Wally had started to pour the subject through. For going on a couple years now, the League had been performing admirably without any signs of significant friction between the members. Sure, there was the occasional rub – be it deliberate or simply a clash of personalities. But that's what their whole conversation was about now; the clash of Batmanism and Flashism.

Would these two be destined to be at odds with each other – even more so than they were with the others within the League? Sure, there were times when any one of them could have minor conflict with any other one. But if you took these instances into account, it seemed that either Flash or Batman (or both) were involved. They seemed to be polar opposites within the organization, the rest of the team floating somewhere in between the two extremes on any given issue or situation. Flash was sure that Batman had the same internal struggles, but he never seemed to ever want to resolve them. Batman never seemed to ever want to address Wally as… an equal. Not just Wally, but they all seemed to be on the receiving end of condescension at one time or another.

It could be chalked up to Wally being the youngest. Did Batman see him as a kid? Was it a form of patronizing that they never had a decent conversation? More questions. More and more and more. Building up all the time. Making the professional tension more unbearable, but also making it impossible for them to see eye-to-eye as men. All the friction was wearing on both of them and in turn, on everybody else.

The biggest question of all was: Can Wally handle it? It seemed Batman could.

"I'm not sure why I love him."

Diana's sudden admission was a far heavier statement than Wally was expecting to hear today. He really didn't know what to expect when Superman had assigned the two together on this mission. They didn't go on many together very often and every time they did, there was always immediate action and fighting to be done. In short, they hadn't had a very good conversation in a long time.

Wally liked Diana. At first, his lust was unbearably overpowering – to the point where Superman had to remind him that she was an Amazon Princess – and wasn't all that comfortable with men, let alone amorous advances and attention. He might not like the results if she felt uncomfortable from his actions or words. A brief discussion of the history of male treatment on her home island of Themiscyra made Wally pull back on the reins.

After time, as he grew more comfortable around her, he learned to see her on the inside. Her ferocity on the battlefield not withstanding, he was impressed and somewhat surprised by her compassion for people that they helped. There was almost a motherly charm to her when she was around small children pining for her attention. There was even softness when she comforted an injured man from time to time, although she never really lost her degree of dignity. It didn't take long for Wally to discover that she was even more beautiful on the inside than on the outside. She truly was regality and beauty personified.

That kind of admiration had made him believe that she was clearly out of his league, so to speak. He had long since stopped trying to woo her, but still reserved the right to flirt and playfully annoy from time to time. It was hard to completely suppress the occasional male urges – especially after Shayera helped Diana discover how to flirt and how fun men's reactions can be to particular actions, phrases, glances, tones of voice and especially 'innocent' contact. But all in all, Wally had been viewing her lately as Diana, not as an object of lust. They had become friends.

"That's probably the last thing I would have ever expected to hear a woman say about that guy – especially you." Wally seemed mixed between embarrassed and disappointed to say such things.

"Why? Is it so hard to believe that somebody could feel strongly for him… or do you feel that _I_ shouldn't feel strongly for him?" Diana's voice took on a touch of concern, thinking that there may be a chance that she was being judged somehow.

"No!" Wally corrected. "No, it's nothing to do with you. Well, not you directly – I mean we are talking about you, too. But basically, I can't see what _any_ woman would find attractive at the end of it all.

"Now I grant you, he's a handsome enough fella (not as handsome as yours truly of course). So, I can see why a woman would be physically attracted to him."

Diana smiled.

"And he's got more money than Lex Luthor – not that I'd think something like that would matter to you. I've seen him on the entertainment news shows and tabloid covers. It's pretty obvious that he knows how to flirt and make women happy in a… I don't know… superficial way, I guess. But those women don't know him. Know _all_ of him, y'know? YOU do. You know how demanding he can be. You've seen how creepy that guy is. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about him sometimes… I just don't get it."

Diana reached out and took Wally's hand. She gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled at him.

"I think you understand him more than you know. He's almost the opposite of you. You're fun and light-hearted – he's dark and overly serious. You're an optimist - he's a cynic. When it comes right down to it, and there's danger and evil, you both are utterly selfless and… well, heroic. You understand yourself, then really, you understand him, too."

Wally shot her a confused and almost frightened look, inviting her to explain more.

"You really want to know what I see in him?"

Wally nodded.

"Let me see… There are so many ways I can explain this… OK, you know that I come from a land with no men at all. I had been raised and lived for _centuries_ under the concept that men were…"

"Pigs?"

"Yeah, pigs!" Diana laughed. "And I'm still not too sure if that isn't true. Sure, there are some idiot men out there, but there are a lot of noble men as well, I've found. I still haven't decided if men are pigs with some notable exceptions or if men are OK and there are just a lot of pigs…

"Well, any way, I came here believing that I could make a difference in the world. I wanted to show women that it's OK to be strong. I wanted to show men that it's _not_ OK to objectify women. I wanted to bring justice to Patriarch's world. It was a basic and simple goal when you believe that men are all pigs. I have to admit, I was a little naïve about the whole situation.

"Then I met you and the rest of the men in the League. At first, I thought that maybe I had found the notable exceptions to the pig-man rule. I have to admit though, some of the things _you_ did and said, and some of the things that Batman did and said really made me think that only alien men, or those trained by extra-terrestrial sources were the only males worth having around!"

Wally blushed a little as he smiled sheepishly, looking away.

"But as I got to know you… and him, I learned that – well in spite of your shortcomings, you two really are admirable _people_ – even though you're male. It really made me question a lot of the things I'd believed in my whole life.

"Then something changed the way I viewed men forever – especially Batman. I realized his true spirit – something he tries desperately to hide from the rest of the world and cover it with a stone-cold façade. I saw something that made me realize that he is really a person I respect and admire. It was something I saw that I wasn't supposed to see."

"What?" Flash's curiosity was really picqued.

"Do you remember that incident with the armored robots at the military installation? The time when we thought Batman may have gotten killed when the warehouse exploded?"

Wally nodded. "Yeah, Superman flew into the wreckage scanning the area for his body and Batman surprised all of us by showing up at the watchtower a half hour later."

"Yeah, that time. Well, you probably remember that we had a lot of clean up to do and a lot of reports to fill out to help the local authorities. Batman was there the whole time, working along side all of us and talking to that General what's-his-name, that rude, pompous… Anyway, I saw Batman be polite, yet firm with that guy. He pretty much coordinated the whole cleanup effort _and _got his hands just as dirty as anybody there.

"I started thinking about the whole situation. Bruce is a multi-_billionaire_. He doesn't have to be out here. He doesn't have to shovel rubble. He _could have_ just stayed up at the watchtower – or went back to the Batcave at any time. He didn't have to placate that pig-headed General, but he did."

Wally considered. "Yeah, I guess that's pretty selfless of him. But… not to sound childish – weren't we ALL there helping that clean up? I remember Superman being bombarded by the press and Lantern was knee-deep in the mud helping out… Batman chose this life – just like you did, I did… we all did."

"That's part of my point. We were all there, yes. He has made the same kind of choice like we all did. But look at what he's giving up to do so. And look how much more he's risking."

"Hey, now. I'm risking my life every time, too. Just because he happens to be rich doesn't mean he's risking more than…"

"I'm not talking about the money!" Diana was quick to clarify. "HE was the one that told us all to get out of that warehouse. HE was the one that stayed behind to try to disarm the bomb."

"Yeah, that's true." Wally was thoughtful for a moment.

Diana continued. "There's more. Something that he didn't want anybody to find out about… He was injured the whole time."

Wally stopped in his tracks and stared at the Amazonian in disbelief. The thought of Batman actually getting _injured _had never occurred to him. So many times he defied the odds, defied the powers that were working against him and still came out on top, unscathed. He _did_ seem superhuman so often that it was easy to forget that he was just a man after all.

"He was up at the watchtower getting patched up. J'onn told me that he had set up an emergency transport protocol and activated it with a remote control on his utility belt. He got caught in that blast, broke two ribs, cracked three more and dislocated his left shoulder. He may have even had a concussion, but J'onn wasn't able to keep him in the infirmary long enough to diagnose it. Batman was too… insistent on…"

"Go ahead," Wally interrupted. "You can say it… he was 'stubborn'!"

Diana snickered "Yeah, _stubborn_. He wanted to get down there and help with the cleanup effort. I shouldn't be telling you this, but one of the soldiers injured in that incident was the son of an employee at Wayne Enterprises. Bruce… _Batman_ wanted to make sure he was alright. And..."

"And what?" Wally urged.

"And he wanted everybody to believe that _he_ was alright as well. That he was _not_ hurt. That he _is_ just as… indestructible as, well as Superman."

"Now, _that's _the kind of thing I'm talking about!" Wally injected with a sudden animation in his arms and face. "Why is he always trying to _out-do_ everybody? We all know he's the best there is at figuring stuff out. We all know that he's probably the best hand-to-hand fighter around. We all know he can sneak up on a ghost in a haunted house. Why is he always trying to prove that he's some kind of more-super-than-Superman dude?"

"Because he's _not_ more super than Superman!" Diana answered. "That look on your face a second ago – when you found out that he really was injured and hid it from the rest of us. That is the result of those efforts."

Wally shot her a questioning glance, challenging Diana to explain.

"_You_ didn't know he was injured. _I_ didn't know – even Superman didn't know. And he could have used his x-ray vision to see the extent of those injuries, had he suspected anything. What do you think we would have done had we known?"

"We would have probably told him to sit that one out and…"

"Exactly! Now, what if I or Superman had suffered those injuries?"

"That's different. You two heal so fast that…" Realization hit Wally square in the thinker.

"Now you see. He isn't super-human. If people realize this, then they'd be more apt to take advantage of this. There were a lot of reporters there. If anybody was able to report that Batman was hurt, that would embolden his enemies. How many times have _we_ questioned his powers – or lack thereof? His mystique is half of his arsenal. There are a lot of punks in Gotham that are scared to death of Batman because they _don't_ believe he's just a man. As John is always fond of saying; power perceived is power achieved."

They walked in silence for a while, taking in the scenery and keeping a watchful eye out for things out of the ordinary.

"So, is that why you like him? Because he can dupe Gotham City low-life's into thinking he's not human?"

That got him a pitiful glance. "No. I'm actually not that fond of Batman. The man I love is Bruce."

"Huh?"

"It's hard to explain. I think one of his best-kept secrets is his ability to act. He acts like a thoughtless playboy for the press. He acts like an ice-cold death dealer as Batman. Those are really both just masks that he wears to hide what's really inside. He chose a long time ago to take on the mantle of Batman – to become a symbol of punishment to those who do wrong. It wouldn't take long for somebody to figure out that a well-connected white male in Gotham, 6'2" and about 225 pounds is Batman. How many people fit that bill in that city? But who in their right mind would see a care-free, womanizing social brat as possibly being Batman? The Bruce Wayne mask diverts people from the Batman's true identity."

"So, do you're saying that he's really 3 people in one? Kinda psycho, isn't it?"

"At times I wonder. He is intentionally acting like Bruce Wayne, there's no doubt about that. Not many people know him as just Bruce, though. If you ever see him at Wayne Manor with Alfred and some other close friends and family, like Dick and Tim… you'll see he's a wonderful father, a devoted son – to both his lost parents _and_ to Alfred in a way. He's genuinely charming… and romantic. He really is an incredible guy.

"The problem is that he so often is wrapped-up with Batman things, that he… well Tim says 'he's going all Batman again' when he starts shutting people out."

"I've heard Dick say the same thing. Sounds like he's really insecure about something," Wally observed.

"I guess he is… but don't you dare tell anybody I said that!"

Wally smiled as she continued.

"There's a small part of him that is still that 8-year-old boy that watched his mother and father get murdered. The boy has grown, but part of him hasn't learned to trust people. Part of him is afraid that people he cares about will leave him somehow. When he starts to feel that way, or when he starts to loose control of some area in his life, he 'goes all Batman' and the cool, calculating side takes over. That's the strength in his character. The only problem is that sometimes the Batman side takes over when it shouldn't. At least, that's the way I look at it."

The two heroes continued along the trails that weaved around the mountain. They spotted the occasional woodland creature, but not many – perhaps something had caused them to vacate the area. Two hikers with camping permits approved by the Ranger were stopped and questioned on the western face. They even investigated all three meteorite impact sites and came up with nothing unusual. Had they not been on a mission, it would have just been a nice walk through the Montana forests.

But they were on a mission. Being such, they were reporting in to the watchtower at regular intervals. So far, Superman and Green Lantern had discovered nothing out of the ordinary in Brazil except for a claim by a local village boy of some unusual noises and activity across the valley. Batman, J'onn and Shayera were still going over data with a figurative fine-toothed comb, but had turned up precious little about the incidents. The only thing that was evident is that the meteorite impacts were caused on purpose and somebody had done a near-perfect job of covering that up.

Clearly, whomever or whatever was behind this had anticipated many forms of investigation. The three investigators on the Watchtower had found what could best be described as only a few pieces to many puzzles. The ground team of Flash and Wonder Woman were listening to instructions from Batman on what to look out for when suddenly…

WHACK! Something heavy had hit Wonder Woman from behind and knocked her a good 50 meters away.

"Diana!" Batman called out through the com link with more concern in his voice than Flash had ever heard. When there was no response; "Flash! What happened? What's going on?"

The young hero was already speeding to the spot where Wonder Woman finally landed with the heavy object, now known to be a whole tree trunk, pinning her down. The Amazon Princess was still conscious, but very dazed and groggy. Flash tried to lift the log, but it was too heavy for him to remove completely from his fallen comrade's body.

"Wonder Woman!" he pleaded. "C'mon, babe! Help me get this thing off you!"

The Princess of Themiscyra rubbed her head with her one free arm. She started to show signs of lucidity and recognized the scarlet-clad figure standing by her. Once she returned to her senses, she nodded in acknowledgement and the two made short work of tossing the object to the side.

Regaining her feet, the anger building up in her was more than evident.

"Hold still."

The deep baritone voice behind Flash and Wonder Woman was clearly Batman warning the others of an unseen danger in the area. When he heard the commotion over the active com link he immediately had Hawkgirl teleport him to their location. Now that he was on sight, it was clear that he knew something of the current predicament that the other two did not.

"Who ever it was that attacked you," Batman explained, "is about 80 meters straight ahead in that thicket of bushes and trees…just past the large boulder."

"Then why don't we _get_ him?!" The now-recovered Wonder Woman seethed.

"Because I don't think he's alone." Batman replied calmly.

"I see him!" And with that, Flash was off – in a flash – towards the spot described.

"NO!" Batman hissed, but it was too late. The blazing streak of red was evidence of Flash intercepting and engaging the assailant behind the shrouded of foliage. Almost instantly, sounds of hand-to-hand combat were emanating from the covered area. Vocalizations of the struggle grew louder and more intense as Batman and Wonder Woman drew closer to the scene.

With an animalistic growl of rage, the unknown adversary had struck a mighty blow and Flash came flying through the dense branches, hitting the near-by rocks and landing hard on his side. Wonder Woman was there to aid him almost instantly and Batman flew over the rocks, landing in a tuck-and-roll, batarangs at the ready.

In a blink, Flash was on his feet and behind the bushes to the spot of the fight. The others joined him a second later to find nobody there.

"There! In that cave!" Flash pointed out the entrance of a rather large cave. He sped in the general direction, but to his credit, stopped at the mouth.

"J'onn, Hawkgirl!" Batman shouted into his com link as he ran towards the cave. "Get down here. We need backup!"

"LOOK OUT!" Wonder Woman had taken postition behind the two men and immediately started deflecting projectiles of plasma energy. The spray of the glowing red bullets ricocheted off her bracelets in all directions.

"It's an ambush!" Batman observed. "We need cover."

Without any notice at all, Flash zoomed into the cave. He stopped about 40 meters deep – just near enough to the entrance to be seen and heard. "I think he's in here!"

As Wonder Woman did her best to block their retreat/pursuit into the cave, a low rumble sounded all around the entrance. The ground started to shake and dust and debris were falling from the ceiling and stalactites of the cavern. Almost immediately, the barrage of weapons fire stopped and the roof of the cave started collapsing.

Moving faster than sound, Flash streaked back towards Wonder Woman and Batman. The sonic shockwave of his motion knocked the Dark Knight off his feet. Flash grabbed Wonder Woman and carried her out of the cave and behind some large rocks for cover as fast as he could without injuring her in the process. Returning to the cave for Batman, the whole mouth had started to crumble and fall. The rock layers above Batman were on their way to sealing his doom. Flash ducked the falling rock as he sped back to Batman, who was still in the process of falling from the sonic shock wave of Flash's first pass. It was clear that it would be impossible for Flash to reverse direction and carry his comrade out of the cave in time. The only solution was to take him further _into_ the cave, hopefully find a secure area and the unknown assailant within.

Plucking Batman out of thin air and doing his best to carry the larger man through the debris without tripping or hitting any of the mid-air objects, Flash was able to bank off the cave walls and wind his way deep into the mountain. He finally slowed enough to hear Batman warn him. "Put. Me. Down."

Registering the command and acquiescing, Flash stopped in what seemed to be a rather large open area deep within the cave and landed Batman on his feet. The low rumble emanating from the cave entrance had grown into a painful roar. A rush of dusty air blew into the cavern with the two men and complete darkness enveloped them as they covered their mouths, eyes and ears.

Outside the sealed mouth of the cave, Wonder Woman saw the final death throws of the collapse and 5 or 6 bright glowing lights momentarily shining from behind various bushes and trees. Teleportation energy. Whoever staged the ambush – and trap, it seems - had gotten away Scott-free.


	6. Chapter 6:Revelations

Chapter 6: Revelations 

"What happened?"

Wonder Woman momentarily stopped her work to see Hawkgirl and the Martian Manhunter advancing toward her, scoping out the area and ready for battle. She had been digging through the rubble and scattered rock, trying to reopen the cave entrance. She had scarce gotten a few large stones removed when the backup arrived.

"Batman and Flash were in the cave when it collapsed," she told them, resuming her work.

Hawkgirl stowed her mace and activated her com link. "Superman, Hawkgirl. Flash and Batman are in trouble. We need you and Green Lantern hear ASAP," and she joined the excavating effort.

J'onn stood away from the two women, his orange eyes glowing fiercely. After a short moment, the huge Martian's head slowly sank as his eyes dimmed. "I can't sense them," he announced softly.

The two women froze, their collective breathing stopped. Shayera straightened up slowly as she stared wide-eyed at the pile of debris in front of her. Uncertain what to do, she turned toward J'onn.

Diana, still holding a massive boulder in her hands, felt pain. Physical pain from deep inside. The pit of her stomach went hollow and her lungs burned. Her grip on the rock grew tighter and her fingers started digging into the object, cracking stone, dust crumbling between her fingers. She finally released the breath she didn't even know that she was holding and it escaped her quivering lips in gusts. The implication of J'onn's statement was taking hold and she could feel the welling behind her reddening eyes. The first tear escaped past her eyelashes and left a clean trail on her dusty cheek.

"No," she hissed through clenched teeth. "No!"

Her protests did little to vent the building anger. Pain and anger mixing within her, pouring fury from her heart, through her veins.

"NO!" she screamed and threw the rock against the mountainside.

"Diana, I…" J'onn tried to console his teammate.

"Try again!" She commanded. The daggers in her eyes warned him that refusal wouldn't be accepted.

"I will try. I suggest you and Hawkgirl continue to dig," he offered, slipping into a meditative state.

Shayera nodded and resumed her labor. Diana soon joined her. The debris before the two warriors had little chance of stopping their determination. What wasn't thrown aside was pulverized by fist or mace. It wasn't long before the original cave entrance had been unearthed, although there were still several dozen meters' worth of digging to go.

As the teammates did their best to burrow, J'onn walked between the two women and phased through the rock. "I will try to locate them inside the mountain," he reported as his ghostly form disappeared into the earth. Within a minute he was back and it looked as if the Martian had been through a battle.

He sat down and held his head in a dazed state as Diana took to his side.

"Did you find them?" she asked impatiently. "What's the matter?"

"I'm not sure," J'onn answered regaining his clarity. "I couldn't go more than a few meters before something trapped me within the rock. It felt as if I was caught within a spider's web – I couldn't move at all and I could feel myself getting weaker. I barely had enough strength to make it back out."

"What kind of material can do that, J'onn?" Shayera asked joining the other two.

"Nothing that I know of," he replied. "In fact, I don't think it was the rock doing it. As I phase through material, I can feel the material within me, and if it affects me in any way, I can feel the affect from within as well. This was different. This felt like an outside force. I think there maybe some unknown energy field within the rock repelling me."

Diana's face grew darker as helplessness took deeper root. Shayera, too, seemed to have her hopes whittled away, but her face took to enlightenment as a realization seeded in her brain.

"J'onn, if there's an energy field within the rock keeping you from phasing through, could that also be blocking your telepathy?"

J'onn sat up straight. "Yes, it could…"

The three heroes exchanged looks of hope.

"We've got work to do."

* * *

"Are you alright?" Flash turned toward Batman in the total darkness, only to be surprised at the sudden glow from a bat-light in completely different direction.

"Fine." Batman's terse answer served as a warning to the younger man not to do anything more to complicate the situation – and that included getting in his way. The Dark Knight had a hand to the side of his head in an attempt to better hear the com link. Flash realized that he was getting nothing on his.

_How did he get over there?_ Flash thought as he joined the figure that was all but invisible in the darkness of their cavernous prison. He boyishly stood behind Batman at a socially-safe distance as the great detective examine every angle of the cave-in. When the focus of investigation continued for more time than Flash could stand, curiosity suddenly became too great to contain.

"Whatcha lookin' for?"

"A way out." The answer stung. Upon hearing it, Flash realized how obvious it should have been. Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity he mentally chastised himself. _Minus 10 points for stupidity._

_Alright West, it's bad enough being trapped in here with… him, let's not get ourselves into more trouble than we already are._

Batman turned and looked Flash square in the eye. "What were you thinking?" he demanded.

"Come again?"

"I told you and Wonder Woman not to move and the first thing you did was to run."

"Hey, I saw a bad guy and I went after him," Flash snapped back defensively. "That's what we do. We catch bad guys."

"Did you catch him?" Batman challenged back rhetorically.

"Shove it."

The eye lenses on the bat narrowed dangerously.

"I would have if the mountain didn't cave in!" Flash argued. "Besides, you should be thanking me for saving your slow a…"

"From a cave-in that wouldn't have happened," Batman finished for him, "if you had done what you were told in the first place! This whole thing was a trap, an ambush! Somebody triggered the cave in because we were inside. The person you chased never came in here."

Flash was about to respond, when he considered that he just may have messed this one up. The thought came with the appropriate level of guilt, but what made things worse was the smug way Batman was all but saying 'I told you so.' That really irked him.

"What are you talking about?" Flash protested. "I saw him run in here."

"Then where is he?"

Flash cocked his head to the side as if listening for another person in the cavern with them. He tried to repeat the events in his head. There were no off-shoot tunnels that they passed on the way in. So either the person he was chasing was in the stone room with them, or Batman was right._ Damn._

"There's nobody here but us. You chased an illusion." Batman's 'I told you so' tone switched to one of observation. "Once you were knocked through the bushes, he probably teleported away. The fact that our com links don't work means that this whole mountaintop is laced with some kind of shielding material or energy field."

Wally turned and looked around, but for what he had no idea. The small light wasn't bright enough to illuminate more than a few feet in any direction.

"Wonder Woman knows where we are," Wally said as if discovering something. "And since she's outside, that means her com link should still work. She and Supes will have us out of her in no time."

"Don't count on it," Batman answered. "Whoever shielded this cavern, cloaked all the sites around the globe and caused those meteorites to crash with pin-point accuracy. They have technology beyond almost anything else on earth. They obviously knew how to bait us into this trap. Now Wonder Woman is outside alone, taking enemy fire from a limited-cover defensive position. Green Lantern and Superman could be falling into similar traps at the other locations because I can't warn them. Hawk Girl and Manhunter could fall into the same ambush as we did when you ran off half-cocked…"

Batman's voice grew louder and more accusing with each theory outlined. Flash felt the bitterness swell within him as he grew more defensive. His discomfort was boiling into something more akin to hatred. There was just no pleasing this man, no matter how hard he tried. Everybody in the League walked on eggshells around him. Everybody in the League didn't question a single thing he did or said.

Flash had tried so hard to earn his respect, his approval and came up short every time. And the times he tried harder, he fell even shorter. He tried to be more like Batman, but looked ridiculously childish doing so. He tried to be himself, but couldn't seem to relax. He tried to be even more Wally-ish, but that seemed to annoy Batman more. Now, he was trying to catch the bad guy and save the day and he couldn't even do that right. He even saved Batman's life and he was getting the blame for putting his life in jeopardy to start with.

Enough.

No more trying.

No more cowering before this man.

No more living life like an excuse around him.

ENOUGH!

"ENOUGH!" It took Flash a second to realize that he'd actually yelled it out loud. If he wasn't so mad at himself and infuriated with the intimidating shadow among the shadows in front of him, he may have actually been embarrassed at the uncontrolled show of anger and emotion. He did the best he could to not get mad – or at least stay mad. Now he'd been pushed too far. This time he wasn't backing down.

This time he stood toe-to-toe with the dark, menacing man in the heart of a cave. He sized the taller man up and looked him square in the eye. Every muscle in his body was tense and his physiology was kicking into hyper-speed. Flash didn't know what to expect, but if it got physical, he'd be ready. This would NOT be a replay of the training arena. This time, Flash was going to show this arrogant, non-powered brick of a man that The Flash was just as much of a hero as anybody in the League, just as much of a presence as any force on earth, and just as much an equal as Superman or Wonder Woman.

Precious seconds ticked by as the two stood mere inches apart, trying to stare each other down. The first flinch would set the tone for their relationship forever. Flash wasn't about to let it be him. The intimidation of Batman's glare wasn't working this time, if anything, it was emboldening him. Flash wasn't letting down, not this time. The energy and emotion he was holding in at this moment made him indestructible, fearless.

Inside, Flash was ready to explode. He wanted to rip the bigger man's head off. He wanted to open his mouth and unload all the rage he was keeping in. He wanted to take off, screaming at the top of his lungs - not out of fear, but just to let it all out. But he didn't do any of that. It was clear to him that his exclamation was all he needed to say. It was clear to him that his physical stance and proximity to his antagonist was being received in the manner in which he meant it. He was no longer the recipient of aggression in this conflict, now he was the aggressor. His position was clear and he knew it. He all but challenged the taller man to make the next move.

Still precious seconds crawled on.

What happened next was not only completely unexpected, but also completely disarming. It was the absolutely last thing Flash would have anticipated to witness from Batman – ever – let alone in a staring contest.

Batman smirked.

He smirked and nodded his head almost imperceptibly. It wasn't defeat, it was acknowledgment he displayed.

Letting out a sigh, the black figure turned and stepped past Flash towards the middle of the cavern. Taking out a grapple from under his cape, he fired it up at the stony overhead, where the metallic clank evidenced that it caught fast. Fastening the small flashlight to the wire on the end, turning up the brightness and hoisting it up towards the stalactites, the newly-lit cavern didn't look so cavernous anymore.

Flash watched with uncertainty. The rage had all but vanished and had been replaced by question.

_What's he doing? What does this mean? Are we still mad at each other?_

"Thank you."

It wasn't clear what that meant. Batman's voice, calm and casual was betraying nothing of his emotion or his view of the present situation.

_Huh?! Did Batman just THANK me? Was that sarcasm? So, he IS he picking a fight! Well then if he wants…_

"For what?" Wally replied as casually as his mixed emotions would allow. Now didn't seem like the time to instigate any more - nor appear defensive. If there's going to be a conflict here, he would make damn sure that he would come out on top, but he wasn't about to start one if it could be helped.

"For saving me from the cave in." came the reply. There was something about the tone of voice that seemed out of place. Wally couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was, it was definitely unfamiliar. Was it… sincerity?

"Don't mention it," Wally said just as sincerely.

Batman meandered towards a rocky formation that looked like it could have been an easy chair for some prehistoric family, slumped down into it and took off his cowl. Looking over at Wally, he smiled.

"I guess we got some time to kill, huh?" he asked the bewildered speedster.

Slowly, tentatively, Wally found his own little stone seat and tried to get comfortable as well. He took his mask off and looked around as if with new eyes.

"There's no way out then?"

"I can't find anything," Batman… no, Bruce admitted. "Can you?"

The question was sincere. It wasn't condescending or hypocritical in any way. It almost seemed that they were just two men talking, not two of the greatest heroes on earth trapped inside a mountain, no tension in Batman's voice. There was no darkness, no brooding. If Wally didn't know better, he'd think that he was being talked to rather than at.

"Look, Batman…" Wally began.

"Do me a favor," Bat-Bruce raised a gloved hand. "When the mask is off, call me Bruce."

"…Bruce?"

"Yeah," Bruce explained. "Batman's taking a break for a few minutes."

Wally thought about that as deeply as he could for about a second and a half. His logic ran so many loops inside his head, he tripped over the tangles and got confused.

"The last time I called you 'Bruce' you looked at me like I just kicked your puppy." Wally said with a touch of disbelief in his voice. "In fact you've never let me call you 'Bruce'… let anybody call you 'Bruce'."

Wally's voice built with a streak of accusation as he talked. Bruce smirked as he finished.

"The last time you called be that, I was Batman. Batman is Batman, I'm Bruce," he said with a disarming smile growing across his face.

The frown on Wally's face begged for more explanation.

"Identity," Bruce said with a pause to let it sink in. "I've worked very hard over the years to build a specific identity for Batman. He's a symbol… an idea more than a person."

There it was – the start of a conversation… one that seemed long overdue. Without being asked, Bruce had started explaining the first of many things that had beguiled Wally for some time. Without prompting, Bruce was confessing something within – sharing a part of himself to… a friend?

"People are vulnerable," he continued. "corruptible… fragile."

"But you are a person." Wally protested. "I don't get it."

Bruce's eyes drifted to the far end of the cavern as he nodded in understanding. He carefully contemplated the best way to explain things from Wally's point of view.

"How many honest politicians have you known?"

Wally's snicker was enough of an answer.

"How many American Flags have lied to you?" Bruce continued without receiving an answer. "A politician is a person. Even the most powerful and most honest of them still have their limits. It's the truly incorruptible ones that have been immortalized because of their virtue. Even they, however, had their flaws. The history books just clean them up a little."

"Like Abe Lincoln," Wally injected, wanting to add to the conversation and show understanding. He started to realize that this was an honest conversation – the first he'd ever had with this man. It was clearly a poignant time in his life. To be accepted by Batman… Bruce Wayne… as an equal… it felt like a right of passage.

"A symbol," Bruce continued with a nod, "like the American Flag… or any flag, for that matter… is a representation of an idea. An idea is untouchable – it is what it is. It represents something in people's hearts and minds.

"Batman is a symbol. It's his inhuman characteristics that separate him from other people involved with the law – other people that can be bought & sold, threatened… coerced… even ransomed into going against their beliefs. You can't do that to a symbol. Symbols are unstoppable."

Wally nodded in thoughtful understanding. The two men sat in silence for a moment as the magnitude of the explanation sank in. It wasn't too far off from what Wonder Woman had said earlier that day. But hearing it from Batm… Bruce illuminated the whole concept.

"Y'know I can see that," Wally started after a moment. "I can see how you would want to keep that kind of a reputation in-tact. It gives you a mental edge against your enemies – they perceive you… "

Bruce's eyebrows rose as he corrected Wally with a glance.

"…Batman as a modern-day Elliot Ness. They are disarmed by that perception…"

"And Power perceived…"Bruce interrupted.

"…Is power achieved," they finished in unison.

"But why do you insist that the rest of the members of the league call you Batman all day? It's not like we don't all know each other's secret identities or anything. Heck, we know more about each other than most of the other people in our lives… "

"It's practice, really," Bruce answered. "To put it simply, I am Batman when in uniform. I have to act like him, think like him. Walk, talk, move, fight…"

"Sulk…?"

"…sulk like him (thank you) in this uniform," Bruce pointed to the bat symbol on his chest. "Or at least when I have the cape and cowl on. If I get into the habit of becoming too comfortable around people while I'm in uniform – while I'm Batman – even around the others in the Leaguer, then I may get sloppy. I could let my guard down when I'm out on patrol. That could be deadly – and not just for me."

Wally considered that. How many times had he, the fastest man alive, been taken by surprise because he wasn't "on" at the time? In hyperspeed, he was The Flash. Unless he was using his superspeed, he was just Wally West. The duality of his situation had always helped him appreciate the same in the others within the League. Even Superman and Wonder Woman could be taken by surprise if they weren't prepared for the situation.

Prepared. Batman is always prepared. The light all but went on over Wally's head. Maybe he isn't always prepared. He has never shown any chink in his armor, figuratively or literally. He always seemed indestructible… Wally had never perceived… Perceived!

There it was. His intimidation of Batman – everybody's intimidation was all because of perception. Call him Batman when in uniform. The serious tone he took – even in the most light-hearted situation. The show of invulnerability in any situation, even if he was injured. He can't tip his hand, not to his enemies or even his allies. He can't let his guard down, not in uniform anyways.

Suddenly, Wally was completely aware of Bruce. Batman wasn't in the room any more. Bruce was sitting there talking with him, a living, breathing, thinking, feeling human being that can be hurt, killed, embarrassed, flattered, just like any other human being in the world. How good of a job had he hid that fact? How long has Wally known Batman, but never understood him? To understand him was to know his weakness. Batman made it a point to let no one understand him. If no one understands him, no one knows his weaknesses. No weaknesses means that he's indestructible… A symbol… untouchable.

"I can't anticipate everything," Bruce admitted, seeing the expression of understanding grow on Wally's face. "But I do everything I can to make it look like I can. I've gotten pretty good at it over the years, but I'm still learning, still teaching myself. I could be better…"

"Better at what?" Wally blurted. "I don't know anybody that can do what you do."

"What do I do?" Bruce said sitting forward. "I absorb the details of a situation and calculate the cause and effect of it all based on what I understand. We all do it. I just do it a little differently."

"Differently?" Wally stammered in disbelief. "Man, Sherlock Holmes had nothing on you."

"Did you ever read Sherlock Holmes?"

"Well… no. But I saw the movie… The one where the gun was tied to a string and a rock and when the guy shot himself, it dropped into the river…" Wally West was slowly sliding into a comfortable state of mind. He was rambling again.

"Movie," Bruce interrupted, bringing Wally back into the conversation rather than hovering around it. "Try reading it next time. You'll find out that Holmes wasn't the smartest guy around. He wasn't dumb, but he was no Einstein. He just trained himself how to think and what to observe. He had connections all around London and a keen eye for observing the facts – logic did the rest."

"But you have all those things in your belt!"

"Options," Bruce's response didn't completely quell Wally's curiosity. "I have so many things in the bat cave that I could carry – I just make sure I cover as many possibilities with the things I have available."

"Tell me about the zip ties!"

Bruce's confusion was evident.

"You pulled out a plastic zip tie and secured a loose cable on the Watchtower once and I…"

"Oh, yeah," Bruce smiled. "I carry a pack of those on patrol every night. They're great at binding suspects. Handcuffs are bulky and heavy. I can carry 50 zip ties in one compartment."

The cleverness and simplicity of it amazed the young Mr. West.

"And I thought Boy Scouts were supposed to 'Be Prepared'!" Wally said and his little allusion was not lost on Bruce.

"Superman is good," Bruce commented. "One of the best. I mean, there's only so much he can carry in his suit, but he really doesn't need to much, does he?"

Wally shook his head with a smile.

"He can use his mind pretty well, too, when he has to. But having that much physical ability, it can become too easy to rely on it, rather than use it. I'm amazed and afraid of how much power that man has and how he hasn't used it to do some of the things that other people would try if they had it."

"The Justice Lords." Wally nodded in understanding.

"Among others," Bruce added. "Can you honestly say that you'd be as reserved if you had all the power he had?"

Wally's first instinct was to object as Superman isn't as fast as The Fastest Man Alive. However, he didn't. He let that… juvenile(?)… protest pass and thought about it more deeply.

"I don't know what I would do if I had just one of his abilities, let alone all of them," Bruce offered.

"Wait a second…" Wally considered a possibility. "You sound… jealous of him."

Bruce laughed. "A little. Yeah, I guess I am in some ways."

"Huh," Wally smiled thoughtfully.

"I tell you what I'm not jealous of," Bruce continued. "The constant struggle he goes through to NOT use them."

"You think he struggles with that?"

"Don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. Never thought about it, really. I mean, it's pretty simple – if I can help somebody because I'm fast, I do."

"How often do you help yourself?"

"What? You mean like stealing something because nobody's fast enough to catch me? I don't do that." Wally didn't want to add 'any more', but it would have been too obvious. His past was just that – past.

"No, just doing things because you can," Bruce had a point to make. "Ever speed down to the store for something to eat? You don't steal it, but you're there in a split second…"

"Sure. That's nothing bad. I'm not hurting anybody or abusing my powers in any way."

"Really?" Bruce challenged. "How is that different than, say, a police officer turning on the lights to his squad car when there's no emergency so he can run a red light – even if nobody's around?"

"Well, I guess if you go letter-for-letter by the book, that's wrong, but if nobody's around…"

"Ah! There it is!" Bruce pointed. "that word 'if'. The Policeman has been trusted with power for a specific reason. He knows what he's supposed to do with it – it's written out for him in a book somewhere. Wiser heads than his outlined that book. All he has to do is follow directions."

"But you…" Bruce continued. "Nobody has told you what to do with your powers. Nobody told you why you have them. With the exception of John and maybe Diana, none of you metas were given outlined instructions about what to do, how to do it, what you can't or shouldn't do with it.

"That policeman example… What if there was somebody there that he didn't see? What if he didn't feel it wasn't against the rules and did it more and more often? What if it became so comfortable with him that he doesn't think twice? What if the law becomes only so many suggestions in his mind, not hard-set rules? Ever hear about the frog and boiling water?"

"Yeah," Wally nodded in corrected understanding. "It's easier to stay out than to get out."

Bruce smiled in shared satisfaction. His point had been made.

"I worry about it all the time," Bruce confided in all seriousness. "I worry about myself – if I'm doing the right thing, if I will continue to do the right thing. I worry about people that don't do the right thing. I worry about people that try to do what they think is the right thing. I worry about people, like Superman and you and Diana and pretty much anybody with that much power, who do the right thing, but for whatever reason my choose to not do the right thing."

"ME?! And Supes?"

"Sure, why not? How hard would it be to drive a person to do the wrong thing?"

Wally didn't know if Bruce was referring to it or not, but he thought about the rage he was containing just ten minutes earlier, when he almost accosted the world's greatest detective. The thought of Superman – or any of his teammates - going rogue was something Wally had never thought of before now, but he could easily catch the nature of those implications. What could be done to stop him? Kryptonite, maybe…

"THAT'S why!" Wally sat up with a streak of eureka in his voice.

"Why what?"

"You carry Kryptonite with you, don't you!"

Bruce seemed a little uncomfortable for the briefest of moments. It was clear that he was mulling over something in his mind before he spoke. Was he getting uncomfortable sharing this much information? Was he tipping too much of his hand?

"THAT'S how you were able to knock him down at that meeting that one day!"

Bruce sat back lost in thought. Harkening back to the incident described, he completed the picture.

"I was in the process of many things on that particular day," Bruce recalled. "There was a nerve agent detected in a grade school in Gotham and the police thought that Scarecrow could have been behind it. Clark… Superman called that meeting and demanded that Batman's presence was required. It wasn't. And…"

"…What?"

Bruce considered continuing. He leaned back further and lifted his hips off the stone seat. Pulling up the left side of his Kevlar vest and peeling up the under layer, exposed a nasty looking scar on his abdomen, just below the rib cage. Wally looked on with concern at the mark. When Bruce twisted over to show another on his back, Wally was aghast.

"Armor-piercing round," Bruce explained. " went straight through. Simple burglary job – or so I thought. They knew what they were doing and they were prepared for me – I wasn't. I was able to take 'em down…"

Bruce trailed off as he reminisced about that one of thousands of incidents. Wally thought about the perception of invulnerability – or in this case, of somebody challenging that perception.

"Did they know they got you?"

"They know they hit me," Bruce laughed. He understood why that question was asked. "But, I think I did a pretty good job of covering it. The guy that fired that shot… You should have seen the look on his face when Batman didn't go down! He even saw the cape flinch when the bullet came out the back…"

Bruce imitated the expression. Wally sat back and laughed with him. He could envision some hapless perpetrator thinking that he got the drop on the infamous Batman, and the consequences of that error. It was interesting to hear Bruce talk about Batman in the third person. The two men chuckled and died down into a comfortable silence. Realization then hit Wally.

"Wait, that happened the night before that meeting?"

Bruce nodded, eyebrows raised.

"You must have still been bleeding!"

"Leslie did a good job of patching me up that morning. I had Alfred cancel all my appointments for the next couple days. The rest of the group was going to cover for me…"

"Group? Cover?"

"Perception, Wally," It was the first time he could remember Bruce or Batman calling him that name. "Dick sometimes takes over as Batman if I can't go out for some reason. If I'm injured, well… nobody would be able to tell that I got injured. Sometimes it lets me go out as Bruce Wayne while Batman makes an appearance…"

Wally's head bobbed as he could finish the sentence in his own thoughts.

Batman was suffering from an injury that would have put a normal person in the hospital for days, if not longer. Yet he was up at the watchtower within hours of the incident as if nothing ever happened. And he didn't seem any grumpier at the time, just upset about having to be there… then about the fact that Superman had been seen working in Gotham… then about Wonder Woman calling him Bruce. No wonder.

"It's not Kryptonite," Bruce started. "Not exactly. Carrying that around on a long-term basis would hurt me, even if it was encased in lead. No, it's a close derivative of it, with softer effects. I keep it just in case… well, just in case."

Peaceful silence reigned in the cave for a few brief moments. Just two men talking and explaining some of their tensions away. Wally's appreciation for Bruce's openness was evident. What wasn't so obvious was Bruce's appreciation for Wally's understanding.

"I try to take into account," Bruce broke, "as many contingencies as I can. It's a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of time to pull it all off. I'm pretty lucky in that I had the means and a great support group around me. Then again, I get lucky sometimes."

It hit Wally that he had probably never heard Batman say "I" more than 5 times in his whole life. He wasn't even too sure if he had actually talked with Bruce, but if he had, he wouldn't have recognized his voice over the phone. The duality of it all was recognizable at times, but completely foreign at others. To watch this man, Batman, and yet to hear him talk about Batman… it was almost surreal.

The conversation continued, at times deep and serious, at times light and laced with laughter. Wally talked about his childhood. He wasn't too surprised that Bruce already knew a lot of it. They also talked about their first encounters with the others in the League, some heroes not in the League, and each other. Diana was right, there was a lot that they had in common; many things exactly the same, yet many things that, on the surface, seemed exactly the opposite, yet not.

"… within 15 minutes of meeting Wally West, I knew you were Flash…"

"OK, now what exactly gave it away?" Flash challenged. "Because you're the only person without x-ray vision or mental telepathy to figure it out!"

"The first clue was your posture. Clark stoops, Superman doesn't. You… you've got good posture… always standing up straight. Even as Wally West. You slouch when you sit on the sofa watching movies."

Wally thought about that for a second.

"Not many people stand or sit up straight these days," Bruce continued. "You're left handed. You don't do much to disguise your voice….and…"

"And what?"

"You sneezed."

"I sneezed?"

"I had heard Flash sneeze plenty of times. You sneezed the exact same way."

"Everybody sneezes! Are you saying that no two people sneeze alike?"

"No, I'm saying that a person with the same height, weight, build, posture, voice and sneeze living in the same city as a superhero could possibly be that superhero. I took an educated guess and it was right."

Wally considered changing some things about himself when not in uniform as they carried on. The lessons and the learning continued on both sides of the room. Bruce seemed keenly interested in Wally's memories of what he felt like before he was the Flash as compared to after he got his powers. It was clear that he was cataloging that as data for his knowledge and analysis of how people's mindset may be altered when something extraordinary, like super-human powers, enters their lives. But Wally didn't take that as offensive or insulting. It was just as clear that Bruce was trying to understand him, Wally West, the man.

"… keeping fit and sound. That's hard work and long hours. I try my best to make sure it never becomes 'routine'. When Batman is on patrol, nothing should be routine."

"So, when you spar with Shayera, does she take it easy on you?" Wally asked. "Sometimes I wish she would take it easy on me!"

"I can tell when she does," Bruce answered, "and I let her know that I don't appreciate it, despite her good intentions. I use the 6 of you to keep myself sharp. Basically, I'm practicing on you guys. How good of a job am I doing if I can evade J'onn's senses? How good am I if I can surprise Superman or Wonder Woman? How good am I if I can leave a room before you notice I'm gone?"

Wally took that as a compliment, although he couldn't help but feel a little used. He had to admire the concept though. How much work and practice did it take to accomplish all of this? Let alone all the other things he does and can do… Diana was right, he is an incredible guy. No wonder that she sees more in him than most people do.

Diana…

"Can I ask you something kinda personal?" Wally was going to push the envelope a little more.

Bruce didn't respond, but simply looked at him expectantly.

"What's up with you and Diana?"

Batman was back. Even without the cowl, the 'don't go there' look said it all. Wally knew he had made a mistake the second it left his mouth, his big, fat, juvenile mouth…

"I love her."

_Holy XXXX!_

"Probably can't tell, though, can you?"

Wally shook his head and Bruce nodded in turn.

"It's… difficult… living my life. Maybe more so than any other member of the League. It's a path I choose a long time ago and I have no intention on leaving that path. Unfortunately, when it comes to Diana, that path was never intended for two."

"But Dick…"

"Dick's different. He chose a path darn near parallel to mine. I helped him along it, gave him the tools he needs to accomplish the goals that he set on… that day. Sometimes I have to help him stay on that path."

Bruce pondered his estranged adopted son, all grown up and living life anew in a different city. Wally felt like he was on eggshells again. He was curious to know more, but didn't want to risk pushing the topic. The last thing he wanted was to turn the situation sour again.

"But Diana… She's on a parallel path, too, isn't she?"

"Even if she is, our relationship is very different from my relationship with Dick, doncha think?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Listen, Bruce Wayne gets… involved… with a lot of women – and makes it publicly known. He's a playboy, a faithless, flakey spoiled brat that thinks nothing of spending more money on one date than most people make in a year. The tabloids love that guy. He's on the cover of one every other day. He can't just… drop out of the society pages. The paparazzi would be all over Wayne Manor… worse than they already are.

"If I'm going to have a lasting relationship with Diana," Bruce's voice shifted, something… morbid. "All that glitz has to end. And it can't end… not just yet. Not too quickly – it would raise more questions than it answers."

The deliberate public image that Bruce used Bruce Wayne for – to cover for Batman – was a dimension that Wally had never considered. He didn't have three lives, just two.

"I still don't know how to make it all work – or even if I can – or if I should," Bruce said forlornly. "She deserves more than I can give her right now. Sometimes I think she deserves more than I'll ever be able to give her. If I live to get old and gray, I'll go to my grave with her looking just as young and beautiful as she does now."

"But she is here now," Wally observed. "She's here and you're here and you have the chance to make each other happy now. To heck with the future."

"At times I think the exact same thing. All those old clichés; the bird in the hand… love lost is better… all that. I've even thought about dumping the whole thing for her and…"

"You mean, the whole Batman thing… ?"

Bruce nodded an affirmation. The magnitude hit Wally in waves. Gotham without Batman. The League without Batman. The world without Batman. Then, slowly, other angles… the tabloids without Bruce Wayne's antics. The tabloids with Bruce Wayne and the Princess together. The coincidences of Wonder Woman, Batman, Bruce Wayne, Princess Diana… could somebody figure it all out? So much to think about and Wally wasn't even involved!

"Believe me, if it can work, I'd move heaven and earth to make it so."

"You'd pretty much have to, wouldn't you?"

"Well, you must know what I mean. What about Linda…"

The two plain-talking heroes discussed relationships they'd tried, regretted… the gossip. They shared laughs about the press. They traded stories about defeating bad guys and teaming up with other good guys. The only thing missing was a few beers.

"…OK, I've gotta ask you; Something that's been buggin me for a couple years now…"

Bruce's face slid into an expectant smile.

"How in the world did you catch me…"

"… in the training arena?" Bruce finished the question for the bewildered young man.

"Y'know, if it's any consolation to you, that one still puts a smile on my face now and again. I couldn't have _scripted_ it any better..."

Wally was stunned. Was it LUCK?

"I knew you were going to be tough to catch. We were still pretty new as a team, so I was certain that each member would try to catch you on their own before they figured out how to work together. I used that time to observe your techniques. I saw a pattern in your escape routes… that and you're left handed. Compound that with your… natural tendencies to boast. It was only a matter of time before you were pinned down temporarily. Once you escaped, depending on the location and who was still left in the arena free to catch you, I took a guess at your most likely route and waited."

Wally was still in the throes of awe.

"I had actually missed you twice before that – but you didn't see me. That last time, you made the mistake of turning your head as you ran - over your left shoulder (left handed), so all I had to do was give you a little bump and send you off course. The rest was easy. By the way, next time, don't tease people so much as your escaping; if you hadn't looked over your shoulder, you probably would have seen me setting that ambush!"

Bruce let a soft chuckle escape recalling that particular incident. He truly was relaxing, being… human, despite all Wally knew. Wally was learning to be more at ease around him as well. To anybody else, it would appear that two old friends were laughing about the good old days. There were no signs of any past tension or animosity. Could these two polar opposites have actually found common ground?

Perhaps it was more of a father/son type of bond building between them. Wally was hanging on every word Bruce said about certain missions or ways that he had beaten the odds, or just been plain lucky, but made it seem as if the whole wide world was his to master. The young hero was taking cues from the old pro. Their differences aside, Wally had started to appreciate Batman, and Bruce even more. He never had taken his powers for granted, although he talked a lot of trash to make it seem otherwise. But at times he had forgotten how lucky he was to have his gifts. This time together with Bruce, he was deeply reminded that his powers meant that he indeed had an obligation to use it for good and not let the power go to his head.

The minutes ticked on as the two sat and talked about whatever they felt. They would occasionally check their com links for signs of activity or progress in their rescue. They had long since discussed survival options. The volume of the cavern allowed for several day's worth of air and the temperature was a relatively comfortable 68ºF. Unfortunately, there was no food or water available, so if anything they would starve or dehydrate to death before suffocating.

Wally was more particularly worried about the starving than anything else. He hadn't been in high gear for a while now, so his metabolism wasn't much higher than the average young adult. But he was still getting hungry.

"I was wondering when you were going to mention food."

"Hey, you know me… I enjoy the culinary delights of our world with reckless abandon…"

"Cupcakes and iced mochas?"

"Yeah! What's wrong with iced mocha? Your girlfriend seems to like them!"

"OK, one; It would be best for you to NOT refer to Diana as my 'girlfriend'. And 2; I wasn't saying that there's anything wrong with iced mocha…I like them too… I just wonder sometimes how much your diet affects your abilities."

"Oh, that. Well the sugar rush is definitely a good thing. Those fast calories get me into top speed even faster. I do tend to tire more easily when I'm on a long burst of speed, though."

"What about your health? I wasn't aware of any special regeneration abilities or things of that nature. It's one thing to burn off the calories – that just keeps the fat off, it's another thing to actually consume a healthy diet. Wouldn't it be better for your stamina if cream filling wasn't one of your major food groups?"

"Probably. But do you know how much easier it is to eat sponge cake at top speed? I'd pull a jaw muscle trying to chew broccoli that fast."

"To be honest, Wally, I don't think many people would mind if your yapper was disabled once in a while." Bruce meant that as a joke, despite most people's belief that the man was incapable of humor. Unfortunately, that particular comment was a little too close to the truth to be taken completely as humor. Perhaps it was the hunger, perhaps sitting on the rocks for too long was making his back ache. Whatever it was, Wally didn't take that comment as harmlessly as it was intended.

"OK, I know I talk a little too much some times," He confessed. "I'm trying to help the situation. Really. I can't understand why some people would just let situations sit like they do when just a few words could clear things up. I mean, look at the two of us right now… a few hours ago, we were at each other's throats…"

Bruce had sensed the frustration and insecurity resurfacing in the young man. He saw that his friendly jab had been received as a slap in the face. Bruce had observed from day one that Wally had always played the role of the younger brother in the League, and although his personality had already fit that part to a tee, there were times when there seemed to be a lack of proper respect shown. To his credit, Wally never disrespected the others out of spite, but sometimes he tried too hard to win recognition. That kind of dwelling for attention, credit, respect, whatever it was… it had occasionally served to further cement his baby-of-the-League status.

Clearly this was a sore spot with Wally. Bruce knew there was that dimension there within the League. He never tried to do anything about it, personally. In fact, he at times felt guilty for maintaining it – either by deliberate or subconscious action.

Taking a rare step for Bruce, Bruce Wayne or Batman, the veteran crime fighter interrupted and offered some sincere advice.

"Wally, can I say something critical and you promise not to get mad or defensive about it?"

Wally had almost taken that question as patronizing as well. His mental defenses were on high alert and he was getting sensitive to the little things. Had he spoken without thinking, the situation wouldn't have improved. Fortunately for both trapped men, he didn't. He took an honest look at his new friend's face and decided that he was attempting to be frank. Upon Wally's silent consent, Bruce continued.

"I think you're a spoiled brat some times."

Bruce paused to let that sink in, get Wally's full attention and to test the speedster to see if he would allow him to finish or blurt out a rebuttal right away. Bruce was pleased that he didn't.

"You have powers that I don't think you fully appreciate or understand. You don't have to go to the gym to maintain your physical abilities. You don't have to practice to out-run the bad guys. When you're moving at mach speed, your mind is moving just as fast. You don't seem to use that to your advantage like you could."

Wally felt the guilt and discomfort intensify within. As his mind was at that moment, this kind of criticism wasn't very welcome. It was hard to make a conscious decision to hear Bruce out, but he made it.

"I don't do this very often," Bruce continued. "I usually just point out what's wrong and either fix it myself or leave others to their own devices to fix it. I figure they'll learn more from something by doing it themselves. I've tried that with you over these past couple years; to express to you how much I disapprove of some of your methods, habits, whatever…"

"That's who I am," Wally disputed.

"I'm not trying to change who you are… not directly. What I'm saying is…"

Bruce took a second to select the best approach for his thoughts.

"You're a great hero – one of the best around. You have a personality that helps keep the rest of us in check sometimes. You're thoughtful and considerate. You have so much potential. But Wally, that's a word that I hate… potential. It means that you're capable of more and you're not doing it."

Wally had always thought that potential was a good word. He would take that word as a compliment. Not two months ago Shayera and Diana had said a similar thing to him. Something to the effect that someday he would be legendary in the lore of heroes on earth. How could he not take that as a compliment?

Now he knew how. What's keeping him from being that good now? What was he waiting for? Why can't he focus his efforts on doing his job better _now_? Was he waiting for something or somebody to tell him that it's time to step up his game? Bruce was doing just that right now, Wally understood.

"Imagine what you could do if you did train more. Imagine how much more potent you could be if your diet had more carbs and less carbonated soda. Your enemies hardly stand a chance now, but how much more positive will your victories be if you realized your potential and unlocked all your power? I don't have what you have Wally."

And there it was. Bruce's last little statement was a flashing red light in Wally's mind. He doesn't have what I have. He envies me.

All those times when Batman chastised Flash; from goofing off on monitor duty to running off half-cocked without a proper plan to single-handedly depleting the Watchtower pantry of all but some base ingredients. They were expressions of disappointment, but not of animosity-laced rejection. Bruce was trying to shame Wally into making better choices. Batman was challenging Flash to grow up.

"You're a great kid, Wally. We need you for your speed and your personality. I'd never try to change those, except to make them better. Take it as you will."

The silence that concluded the last of the assessment was a time for both men to ponder. Neither really knew what to say after that. Fortunately, neither of them had to say anything.

A faint buzz sounded from inside the discarded cowl next to Bruce's rock throne. Wally put his mask back on to hear the slightest indications of transmissions being received.

"… Batm… lash… not receiving… sending… J'onn has isol...ted… signal gen..ator… shut down."

"They've found whatever it was that was shielding us from the outside!" Wally's exclamation earned him a quick shush as Batman was trying to pick up the massage from the fragments.

"…rypton..te… Superman from br..king… rock. He and Wond… oman… engaging with… emy forces…"

"Hawk Girl! This is Batman! Respond!"

"…atman! Rec…ving you… reaking up."

"When can you get us out of here."

"Batman! We…xpect to hav… ou and Fla… out… 20…inutes…"

"20 minutes! Roger! Batman out!"

"It's about time!" Flash said sitting back on the rocks with a sigh.

"Actually, I'm surprised they're getting us out this early."

"Who did this? Do you know?"

"Grodd," Batman harrumphed. "When J'onn and I discovered that this mountain top was cloaked, I thought it might have been similar technology used to hide Gorilla City. When the origin of the force generators that rerouted the meteorites turned out to be tropical places, then that confirmed my theories."

"Did he do all this just to trap us?"

"I don't think so. My guess is that he built this trap to catch at least one of us – maybe more. His energy field not only cut off communications, but prevented J'onn from phasing through. Shayera just mentioned Kryptonite as well – that would take care of superman. And I'll bet that, when we get out of here, we'll find that Themiscyra was the first major target of his meteorite summoning weapon – that would have preoccupied Wonder Woman. He tried to neutralize or preoccupy as many of us as he could."

"Now that you mention it," Flash recalled, "that guy behind the trees – the one I tangled with before we came in here – I didn't get a good look at him, but I know he was big. He was probably one of Grodd's soldiers in disguise."

"Probably."

"Greetings."

Both men turned to see the Martian Manhunter materialize before them as he stepped through the stone walls of their mountain prison.

"About time," the deep baritone voice echoed throughout the cavern.

Wally looked and saw that Bruce was now gone and Batman had returned from his break.

"Good to see you, too Batman."

"Hey, J'onn…" Wally put his hand on a huge green shoulder. "You got anything to eat?"

A few minutes more and the cavern had a new opening opposite side of the original. Grodd hadn't secured enough Kryptonite to surround the entire void, so he put as much as he could around the entrance of the cave. With the energy field blocking all forms of scans, it was impossible to see that there was only a few square meters laced with it. J'onn couldn't phase through nor communicate telepathically with the captives. The energy field had affected Green Lantern's ring as well, making excavation very slow.

Wonder Woman was defending her home island from the projectiles Grodd's technology had reigned down upon it. When Grodd's forces staged all-out assault on Athens, where many of Europe's leaders were meeting in a Summit, the excavation had to be abandoned altogether. The other members of the League helped to quell the attack before returning to the mountain.

"Looks like we missed out on all the action!" Flash turned to Batman as the two emerged into the glow of the setting sun. The Montana sky shown purple and orange with the first hints of night and a few stars peeking out to the east.

Wonder Woman, dirty, exhausted and disheveled, couldn't contain her relief at finding Batman and Flash alive and well. She threw her arms around Flash. However, an almost imperceptible shake of Batman's head warned her not to give him the same greeting. It seemed to Flash that everyone present was turning away to hide knowing smiles from the two.

In the Watchtower later that night, all the meetings adjourned, all the reports filed and all the stories exchanged, J'onn retired to the monitor womb to take over duties for his shift and the rest were headed to their homes or rooms in the orbiting space station for a well-earned night's sleep.

As Bruce Wayne awoke in the gossamer folds of his bed at Wayne Manor, he was greeted by his loyal Alfred, who had mysteriously included a frothy iced mocha with Bruce's normal breakfast fare.

At almost the same moment on the Watchtower, Wally was joined by Shayera and John Stewart in the cafeteria as he was finishing up his second breakfast.

"This was left for you in the conference room by someone," John stated as he handed Wally a copy of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

"Who gave you that?" Shayera inquired over her coffee.

"Mr. Dark and Gloomy, himself," Wally responded with a quiet smile.

"Bruce gave you that?" John asked.

"No," Wally corrected. "_Batman_ did."


End file.
